Conference vaxuum::document_ft

    >Can DOCUMENT handle landscape mode? If not, will it in the future?
    
    DOCUMENT cannot, at present, handle landscape mode.  This is one
    of the items on our agenda to consider for the next version, and
    I have tagged your note with the WISHLIST keyword so we don't lose
    track of it.
    

    Roy and I have done a bit of work on a work around with a <table>
    feature I found. I found that when the total of the column sizes
    is over 70 the resulting output has characters which would appear
    to give about 132 columns wide. I thought it was a bug - maybe it
    is.. - and was experimenting. Roy has tried defining a table two
    cols wide with the first col specified as ..>(2\132) wide. The report
    was then pulled in as a figure file.
    
    This gives a work around but some of the formatting is a bit out
    and needs prettying to look like the report would.
    

    Regards
    Kevin M

    It's not really a "work around" Kevin. What I did was :-
    
    <align_char>(#)
    <table>
    <table_attributes>(keep\wide)
    <table_setup>(2\80)
    <table_row>(<keep>(132 columns of text with all spaces replaced by #....))
    <table_row>(<keep>(... lots more ...))
    	.
    	.
    	.
    <endtable>
    <endalign_char>
    
    Which works to some extent if you have lots of space in the report
    lines or if the lines are mostly numeric. Any lines with lots of
    text are truncated and the columns don't line up. Note the
    <table_setup> setting of 80, not 132; DOCUMENT objects to bigger
    numbers.
    
    In the end I truncated the lines to about 120 characters and explained
    the lack of the trailing headings in the text of the document. What
    I really need is a monospaced font of 3 or 4 points.
    
    Anyone seen one lately?

    Roy 

    
    with a 3-point font, we'd have to supply magnifying glasses with
    every book, like the OED. 6 points (which we use on the typesetter
    is just barely okay).
    
    -pa

    Patti's right, 6 point type is an absolute minimum.  What we *really*
    need is a way to get DOCUMNET to switch into and out of landscape
    mode within a file.   A \LANDSCAPE argument that works with tables
    and code examples would be great.

    -- Craig

    Another angle would be to process two files: one in portrait and
    one in landscape. The landscape would contain just tables, wide
    report examples and so on. Its pages would then replace the
    corresponding ones in the portrait version. This maintain the table
    of contents entries as you're replacing the whole page which contains
    just a single "element".
    
    That would solve most of the complaints I hear at a stroke! (As
    for the wishlist items...:-)  )
    
    Gavin

    Just as a matter of interest, what size is the font that I'm seeing
    when I run the example in .3 ?
    
    I measured the numerics and got 22 to the inch. Doesn't that make
    it a (72/22) = 3.3 point font? 
    
    re .5
    
    Terrific! 
    
    Roy

    
    If you are using the GENERAL doctype, it's 9 points. I don't
    understand how you measured.
    
    

    One of the lines that I printed was a string of digits. Like this:-

    1234567890123456789012345678901234567890...... and so on for 132 digits
    ^                    ^
    |                    |
    from here ...        to here measured 1 inch. That is, 22 per inch.
    
    Then since there are 72 points to an inch, each digit is (72/22)
    points wide. (72/22) = 3.3 points. I know that in a proportionally
    spaced font the alphas have different widths but I thought the font
    took its size from the numerics. Not so? Please explain.
    
    Roy
    

    
    The point size is the 'height' of the font, not based on character
    width. 

    It should also be noted that a font's point size cannot be determined
    by just measuring the height of a character (a capital X for example).
    Font size is determined by measuring from the top of the highest
    ascender (like the top of a lower case l or h, sometimes these can
    extend beyond the top of the capital letters), to the bottom of
    the lowest descender in an *entire* typeface.
    
    -- Craig

    You learn something new every day!
    
    Thanks for the explanations.
    
    Roy

    So if i specify a small font and try the tricks of not specifying
    the real width will there be any problems printing the resultant
    file in landscape mode or does document force it to be in portrait
    
    	Gerry Connolly

    
    YOu can try setting the <table_attributes>(wide\maximum) and then
    placing all the text in the table; this might get you 132 characters,
    but not in a monospaced font and therefore things won't necessarily
    line up. DOCUMENT would never force you to print a page in landscape
    mode. You may get text formatter or device converter errors if the
    text is too wide for the page.
    
    patti anklam
    

    
    I'd like to add my (and my colleagues') vote for a LANDSCAPE format
    tag or argument.  I have an immediate need for landscape formatted
    tables with relatively large font size within otherwise normally
    (portrait) formatted text on UK A4 paper.  Other people in my group
    have requested help in handling up to 132 column screen dumps, and
    I don't yet know how best to advise them. Given the readable font
    size problem, Landscape is the obvious answer.
    
    wish...wish...wish
    
    Andrew

Another vote:  I will very soon have a need for showing compiler listings in a 
document and 132 column lanscape mode would be perfect.  

As it stands I will have to <PAGE> or something equivalent to reserve blank
pages where is can (shudder) literally cut and paste the listings in.  

Due to the number of examples I have for this 400 page tome any post V1.0 field 
test release supporting/testing such a feature would be very helpful.  We have
LN03 and will soon have LPS40 devices.

\bob
/\peterson